Unexpected
by Diemerald
Summary: Emerald and Yellow get to know each other better, each discovering that there is more to the other than they initially assumed.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is the very first shipping fic I've ever made and only the second overall, so any and all advice/constructive criticism here would be immensely appreciated. I hope you like it, and thanks for reading!

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"Announcing the next match! Emerald! Versus! Yellowwwwwwww!"

The loud, microphone-enhanced voice rang out throughout the Battle Dome, managing to be heard above the roar of the large crowd. Outside, the sun shone brightly. It was the final day of Emerald's seven day Frontier Challenge, and the little battler only needed to win the Tactics Symbol to complete his challenge- but to do that, he had to go through a tournament with all of the other dexholders first.

Emerald walked onto the stage in his usual gear- well, usual for him anyway. His blond hair stood up in a large crescent on his head. His large, green sleeves concealed extendable hands, and his pants hid platform shoes. All of this hidden extravagance is employed by Emerald as a means of hiding his true height. Silly as it seems, he thinks he needs this to avoid being made fun of. Very few know the truth about his height, much to his relief. He climbed the stairs to the battleground swiftly, despite his platform shoes- a result, no doubt, of his extensive practice with the gadgets.

On the opposite side of the stage, a young girl with long blonde hair and a large straw hat walked hesitantly on to the stage, smiling and waving to the crowd all the while. It was Yellow, the healer from Viridian and Emerald's first opponent. "Hi, Emerald!" she exclaimed with a broad smile upon seeing him. "I'm not too sure I want to battle… but I'll try my best nonetheless!"

Emerald scoffed at her remark, the concept being entirely foreign to him. "Not wanting to battle? Ha! Is that some kind of joke?"

Yellow tilted her head, confused. "A joke? Why would I joke about that?"

He stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Suddenly he jumped back, almost falling over in the process, and finally came to a realization: "Y-you don't like battling?!"

The girl put her hand to her face and giggled at the boy's cartoonish reaction. "It's true," she responded. "I don't like battling because it means my friends might get hurt!"

Emerald blinked slowly, unsure how to respond. After all, he'd never really considered that perspective. He finally shook his head, deciding to leave that debate for another time. "Well, Yellow, whether you want to or not we're battling! Don't think I'm gonna hold back just cause you're a cute girl!"

For a second, neither trainer moved. Finally realizing what was said, they both jumped back in shock. "C-cute?!" Yellow stammered as she began to blush despite herself.

Emerald wasn't having any better luck: "Umm! I mean! That is to say…" None of his sentences were completed as he wondered to himself: _Now why on Earth did I say that? Gah, concentrate Emerald!_

Suddenly, an extremely amused shout was heard from the crowd: "And you yell at me for flirtin' with Sapph?!" It was Ruby, dressed in his usual white hat and red shirt. Sapphire, sitting beside Ruby in the crowd, wasted no time hitting him over the head, shutting him up for the moment at least.

_Not. Helping. Ruby._ Emerald thought to himself as he looked around for some sort of distraction. He finally found what he was looking for in the announcer and yelled: "Hey, you! Shouldn't we be starting this battle now?"

"R-right, right!" the startled announcer replied. "Here are the rules. Each trainer can use up to three Pokemon! The first trainer who has a Pokemon that is unable to continue the battle loses! Now, are you ready? Then fight!"

Emerald sprang into action, totally in his element. He brought out his first Pokeball with a flourish, tossing out Sceptile. The green, leafy reptile landed on the ground with a thud before staring at Yellow and raising both of its arms in a challenge. "Ummm… here goes!" Yellow shouted as she threw her own Pokemon into the ring. "Let's go Dodosk!" The brown, three-headed bird landed in the ring lightly, all six eyes on its opponent.

"Right off the bat we've got a big type disadvantage!" the announcer exclaimed, trying to pump up his crowd. "Caaaaaan Emerald make up for it?"

Emerald, the picture of confidence, smirked: "Watch me. Sceptile! Get behind him!" Sceptile rushed to do as his trainer commanded, strafing around the bewildered Dodrio. "Now we've got him right where we want him," Emerald said to himself as he broke into a grin. "Iron tail!"

The Sceptile, anticipating his trainer's next move, began the attack even before Emerald had finished speaking. He planted his hands on the ground, pushing against it at an angle. The result was a rapid spin that brought the now-silver tail slamming into his opponent. "Eep!" the startled Yellow exclaimed as her Dodrio was sent flying to the other side of the ring.

Sceptile stood alert, eyes on its opponent, as its tail reverted to its original color. The announcer, after being bewildered for a few seconds, finally reacted: "Oh! Emerald has used his Sceptile's dominating speed stat to make up for iron tail's accuracy and launch a brutal first strike! How will Yellow respond?"

"U- umm!" the pacifistic dexholder looked around with a worried look. "Dodosk, use… uhh… aerial ace!" The bird's middle head leaned back before rushing forward, slicing the air in front of it and creating a current of wind that slammed right in to the leafy Pokémon.

Emerald looked in shock, eyes widening as he began to process what had just happened. "How could someone this obviously inexperienced know to use an attack that can't miss- rather than a stronger attack- against my fastest Pokémon so it can't dodge?" he wondered to himself under his breath.

"Eheh~" the elder dexholder laughed lightly as she turned her head to face Emerald with a gleam in her eye. "Guess you underestimated me, huh?"

Emerald sighed as he detached himself from the party in celebration of his own victory over the Battle Frontier. He, for more reasons than he can count, has never been one for parties. He realized he wouldn't be missed for a while, even if it was his own party he was leaving- after all, everyone would just assume he was with someone else. He headed to the edge of the island and sat down, legs crossed, to watch the sunset spread its vermillion hues across the ocean. Finally getting a moment to himself, he thought about all that had happened in the past week- from arriving at the Frontier to the final battle of the tournament just a few hours ago and everything in between. "Just imagine," he thought to himself- a habit he practices very often- "you finally have a place. A place where you belong." He closed his eyes and saw his new friends, one by one. The ones he respects the most, Crystal, Red, and Green, came first. Next came the two who seem almost as reserved as him, Blue and Silver. He resolved to ask them about it in private sometime before moving on to the next face: the guy he's able to pal around with, Gold. Ruby and Sapphire appeared next, together. No matter how much he might tease them for flirting, he really was happy for them (though he'd never tell them that).

And then, finally, that last person. The one who came out of nowhere and gave Emerald a run for his money. "Heck, I was so surprised I almost lost!" he exclaimed in his head. "To think someone that strong would waste her talents by not battling unless she has to… I don't understand it." His thoughts wandered from there as his shadow lengthened, though they continued to return to the same place. Numerous times, he caught himself thinking about how cute she looked; every time, he blushed furiously and immediately shifted his thoughts to something else. "Thank God no one's here to see me like this," he thought, grateful for the chance to display his emotions fully without someone seeing.

"Emerald? What are you doing way out here?" Suddenly knocked out of his reverie, Emerald spun around to find the source of the voice was none other than the one he was thinking about all this time. And, much to Emerald's secret delight, the orange light of the sun played on her face in the most beautiful way possible, reflecting off her broad-brimmed straw hat and perfectly complimenting her blond hair and brown eyes.

"O-oh! Hi, Yellow!" Emerald stuttered as he tried to recover from the surprise. Yellow, oblivious as always, merely tilted her head. Emerald, still sitting, stared at her awkwardly before remembering that she asked him a question. "Oh!" he exclaimed, pretending that no time had passed, "I'm just out here watching the sunset."

"Oh? You like stuff like that?" she questioned him, leaning in ever so slightly out of curiosity. "I figured you'd only like stuff like fighting."

"…Nah," he admitted after a long pause. "That's not all there is to me. Anyways, I try to watch the sunset as much as I can. Especially in these conditions, what with us being so close to sea level and out on the ocean."

Yellow stared at Emerald and blinked. Evidently he wasn't the only one who got a surprise today. "Y-you know that much about stuff like that, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Emerald rubbed the back of his head and stared at the blazing sea, his expression unreadable. "I guess you could say… I'm full of surprises."

Yellow remained silent, and it was impossible for Emerald to tell what she was thinking. She too stared out to sea for a moment, before Emerald decided to change the topic. "Speaking of surprises, how about you? For someone who hates battling, you sure are good at it."

"Well…" Yellow paused, trying to figure out what to say. Luckily for her, she suddenly remembered why she was there in the first place. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Somebody got a whole big cake! We were waiting for you!"

At the promise of food, Emerald jumped up with a massive grin, both arms raised in the air. Shouting about how hungry he was, he immediately dashed off. Shaking her head, Yellow smiled lightly and started running as well.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nyaaa… what time is it?" Yellow wondered to herself as a large beam of light filtered through her window. Rubbing her eyes, she got ready for the day as quickly as possible. It was, after all, a beautiful day: late spring, and just about to turn to summer. She grabbed her signature straw hat from its usual resting place by the door before rushing outside. Feeling the sun's warm rays surround her, she took a deep breath and smiled brightly. Her trusty friend Chuchu dashed out of the house as well before jumping up onto her shoulder. "Perfect day for a walk in the woods, isn't it Chuchu?" Yellow said with a smile to the female Pikachu. Viridian Forest was Yellow's favorite place to be by far. Though she technically lived in town, she spent most of her time there. She knew the entire maze of a forest frontwards and backwards, not to mention just about every nook and cranny in the whole thing.

As she walked towards the forest, she mapped out possible routes in her head. Finally she decided to take a straight path into the middle of the forest, a large clearing with lots of sunlight. The path ran parallel to a stream that cut through the entire forest. As she went deeper into the dark forest, she looked around a bit and yawned. "I know I just woke up, Chuchu, but I'm already thinking about taking a nap!" exclaimed the ever-sleepy dexholder. She continued walking along in blissful silence for a while. Finally, she got close enough to the clearing to see the forest become noticeably lighter. Just as she was about to hurry towards the clearing, she happened to turn towards the stream. There, she noticed an odd shape silhouetted by the lighting conditions. It was very oblong, with a large crescent at the top. She tilted her head slightly, wandering what the strange thing could be. It took her a few seconds, but the crescent was too recognizable for even Yellow to forget. "Hey!" she called out with a voice of curiosity.

Emerald had been staring into the water for the past hour or so, thinking- as he was liable to do often. Upon hearing Yellow's voice, the young dexholder was surprised out of his reverie and, having already been leaning towards the river, fell straight in. "Ahh!" he had just enough time to shout in surprise before he fell in. Yellow ran towards the spot, a concerned look on her face. She stared into the water and saw a mass of flailing limbs and blonde hair. The sight was so ridiculous that Yellow laughed despite herself. Hearing her laughter as his head rose above the shallow water's surface, Emerald shouted towards her: "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"S-sorry!" Yellow managed to apologize through her laughter as Emerald dragged himself onto the beach. "You…" she trailed off in search of a way to phrase what she was about to say. Finally deciding to simply say it, she continued: "you looked so silly!"

"Nice to know you at least got enjoyment out of it," the sodden Emerald grumbled as he shook himself off. As he did so, his blonde hair fell onto his face, surprising him even further. The water had evidently washed out the gel in his hair, and his natural hairstyle was now revealed. His long, blonde hair flowed down his neck and completely surrounded his shocked face. He looked up at the hair on his forehead, then over to Yellow and back before immediately rushing to cover it. Yellow, seeing the sight, put her hand to mouth and began to giggle once more. Emerald, his face full of pure horror, tried and failed to stammer out a sentence.

"H-hey!" Yellow said after finally managing to stop giggling. "Covering that up isn't gonna do anything, silly!"

Emerald glared at her for a second, extendable hands still on his hair. Her face showed nothing but simple sincerity and a smile- not something you can glare at for long. "I… ugh, you're right," Emerald said with a sigh.

Yellow laughed lightly, the little dexholder being a continued source of amusement for her. "Why are you even that concerned? I saw you like that way back at the Battle Frontier two years ago."

"I-I know," he admitted with a face of pure dejection. "It's still embarrassing, though."

"Well. You shouldn't let your appearance influence you so much!" Yellow said while waving a finger directly at his still-wet face.

Emerald took a second, blinking before replying. Then: "Hey! Easy for you to say! You're a cute girl!"

First one second went by, then two. Finally, on the third second they both reacted in their usual way: lots of stammering. _Why do I keep doing that?!_ Emerald wondered to himself as the ever-innocent Yellow tried to figure out how to respond to the sudden compliment. Her cheeks, of course, responded for her, and she began to blush. Emerald buried his head in his sleeves, trying to hide in his own silly way.

"What I meant," he said in an exasperated tone after a beat, "is that you've never had to deal with this sort of thing."

"I guess that's true," Yellow said softly, shifting into a more serious mood. "You still seem pretty silly, though."

"Well, think whatcha want!" Emerald said as he turned his back to Yellow and yawned while stretching. Now that he had had time to collect himself, he was planning on maintaining an air of nonchalance throughout the rest of the conversation. It was a defense mechanism he'd picked up somewhere along the line, something he'd use to make it seem like he didn't care even though he did. Suffice to say, he used it often. "I'll just keep doin my own thing."

"Okay…" Yellow said slowly, wanting to say something more but not quite sure what. She had a vague understanding of the fact that the tiny dexholder wasn't necessarily revealing all of his emotions, but couldn't get a firm read on him. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her: "Hey, Emerald? Why are you out here, anyway? Shouldn't you be with Red?" Emerald had, after all, been staying with his battling senior as of late. They had been training with each other, trying to become even better than they already were, and had seemed practically inseperable.

"It's not like we spend every minute together," Emerald said dismissively. "As for why I'm here, I-" though Yellow didn't realize it, he had almost backed himself into a corner. He had very nearly revealed his actual emotions, a fact he realized just quickly enough to save himself from doing so. "I'm just exploring!" he quickly lied. He certainly didn't want her to realize that he was actually looking at his reflection and thinking about his life. It was too embarrassing, too close to his true feelings to be revealed to anyone.

Yellow- naïve as ever- immediately believed him. "Oh!" she exclaimed with a smile. "Why didn't you tell me? I know this forest better than anyone!"

"It's more fun without a guide," Emerald mentioned quickly, surprised at the convenient support his lie had just received. He really did believe what he had just said- sure, the context was a little muddled, but it wasn't like he had to lie about everything. It was nice because, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he hated lying to his friends. They were the ones he could trust, right? He knew it was true, of course, but at the same time he also knew that, no matter what he did, he still couldn't let people in- not that much, at least. This was the type of thing Emerald really thought about as he stared into his reflection that day. And, as far as he knew, he'd never do anything but think about it. He wasn't counting on what happened next.


End file.
